The objectives of this proposal include both theory testing and exploration. The model to be tested is a three stage causal theory explaining narcotics addiction and abstinence. Several hypotheses have been derived to be tested concerning Puerto Ricans on the mainland and in Puerto Rico. The study involves data collection in a poor Puerto Rican and Black section of the Bronx, East Tremont, and a poor section of Ponce, Puerto Rico, La Playa. The target population is working class, Puerto Rican males ages 16 to 25. The sample size is 200 to include 50 addicts and 50 non-addicts in East Tremont and 50 addicts and 50 non-addicts in Ponce Playa. The data will be collected by anthropological and sociological field investigation techniques using tape recorded open ended questioning by four teams (composed of a graduate student and a local neighborhood paraprofessional). The study will make comparisons between (1) the life style of non-drug users and addicts, (2) the structure and roles of non-addict peer groups and addict peer groups, (3) the recruitment procedures and criteria of membership in non-addict groups versus those of addict groups, (4) the values of non-addicts and those of addicts, (5) the life style of "successful" addicts versus addicts who are officially labelled, and (6) the causal processes of addiction and non-addiction in Puerto Rico versus these processes in the Bronx, New York.